FORMER HEART PATIENTS STEP OUT TO RAISE £5,500 FOR HOSPITAL

Five people who say they owe their lives to heart surgeons at the North Staffs Hospital, Stoke on Trent have raised £5,500 to say thank you for the expert care that they received.

"We would like to thank everyone who helped in any way with this project, including those who took sponsor forms and collected money, those that gave so generously to the cause, first aiders and those that provided transport."

A cheque was presented to Tony Berry, MBE chairman of the North Staffs Heart Committee, at a presentation ceremony held at the Tan House Inn, Llangyniew.

Mr Berry thanked the former heart patients and supporters for their excellent fundraising work. He said the committee had raised £4.5 million to buy equipment for the hospital's cardiac services since it was established 30 years ago.

The hospital was now one of the largest and most successful cardiac centres in the UK with nine consultant cardiologists and he described the team of specialist staff as "absolutely incredible".

He told the former heart patients that they would have benefited from equipment purchased by the committee during their stay in hospital. "It is only with the support of people like you that we can afford to buy this equipment so that the hospital can then back it up with consultants," he added.

 

Tony's history of public service goes back many years as some of the following roles illustrate:

• Scouting leadership - Dresden & Kibblestone

• National Service RAF

• Fellow Chartered Institute of Building - Past Chairman of North Staffs Branch

• Fellow Institute of Carpenters - Past Chairman North Midland Section

• Fellow Chartered Institute of Management

• Associate Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

• Round Table - Past Chairman Newcastle-under-Lyme
                   - Past Chairman Cheshire & North West Midlands Area

• 1974 - Newcastle Borough Councillor - 4 years

• 1975 - Rotary Club of Blackfriars (Newcastle) - Founder President

• 1988 - Member and Spokesperson of Newcastle War Memorial Public
            Appeal resulting in erection of cenotaph in 1992

• 1992 - Rotary Foundation of Rotary International -
            awarded Paul Harris Fellowship for services to the community

• 2003 - Retired as Chairman of North Staffordshire Magistrates Bench
            after 30 years service as Justice of the Peace

• From 1979 - Co-Founder of the North Staffs Heart Committee, the leading LOCAL heart charity and its Chairman for the past 25 years during which time the charity has raised over £4million to improve cardiac care in North Staffordshire

Congratulations Tony Berry MBE!
from the web team
 

NORTH STAFFS HEART COMMITTEE DONATES HIGH -TECH
MACHINES FOR HOSPITAL'S PIONEERING RESEARCH

This latest donation by North Staffs Heart Committee means that Staffordshire is one of the first areas in the country to have access to a revolutionary method of heart screening which will save many lives each year. It also aids pioneering research into the causes of heart failure by pinpointing the cause in such detail that, for the first time, doctors know exactly which patients will benefit from the fitting of a special pacemaker.

Until now diagnosis - and still in other cities - diagnosis was far more hit and miss, leading to significant numbers having the advanced pacemaker even though they don't need it.
 

Basically the equipment provided by the Heart Committee comprises two 'mainframe' Vivid -7 echocardiography machines to be used for both treatment and research purposes.

In addition there is a Vivid -I laptop-style portable machine. This is used by world renowned cardiac specialist Professor John E Sanderson to screen patients on the wards and in their homes as part of his pioneering cardiovascular research into heart failure, a disorder which medical experts still do not fully understand.

"I am sure that without this equipment we would not have been successful in being awarded a research grant. As a cardiologist I am thrilled that this area has such an active and successful fundraising charity to support research and the treatment of cardiac patients in North Staffordshire.

He added: "Once we have a better understanding of the symptoms of heart failure we will have a good chance of being able to prevent this condition or treat it in a more effective way."

Consultant Cardiololgist Dr Grant Heatlie, Director of Cardiac Imaging at the hospital, said: "This cutting edge technology is being used in a wide variety of applications, including the diagnosis of angina and the comprehensive assessment of heart valve disease.

"One of the most exciting advances it has allowed us to make is in the assessment of heart failure. Some heart failure patients are helped by the implantation of an advanced pacemaker - Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy (CRT).

"The unique Tissue Doppler imaging capabilities of the Vivid -7 have allowed us to establish a screening programme to identify those patients who will benefit most from CRT.

"The University Hospital of North Staffordshire¹s cardiac department is one of the few centres in the country to have such a service."

Dr Heatlie said the three dimensional echocardiography on board the Vivid -7 is a new technique that will help to improve the accuracy of the diagnosis of many types of heart disease.

He added: "The new equipment has improved the access of patients to high quality echocardiography services and the development of important clinical and research programmes which would not have been possible without the generous support of the North Staffs Heart Committee."

The Committee works closely with heart specialists at hospitals in North Staffs to source and buy vital hi-tech cardiac equipment, and since it was formed 27 years ago the independent charity has raised more than £4 million to help the battle against heart disease.

Tony Berry, Chairman of the North Staffs Heart Committee, said: "We are delighted to be able to donate this equipment which will help to keep the hospital¹s cardiac department ahead of the field.

"We are particularly pleased that the provision of the Vivid -7 and Vivid -I technology has attracted additional funding for the new research programmes that have been made possible by these echocardiography machines."

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT STEVE RUSHTON, CHARITABLE FUNDS AND APPEALS MANAGER AT THE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL OF NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE, PHONE 01782 552018

Information and photographs supplied by
Nigel Pye
Smith Davis Press
Tel. 01782 829850
nigel@smith-davis.co.uk
www.smith-davis.co.uk